My Italy

Chapter 27 Invasion of Tunisia

A young man from the Haromir tribe in northwest Tunisia fell in love with a girl from a tribe in French Algeria. At that time, border management between the two countries was lax, and intermarriage between border tribes often occurred.

Once, a young man went to visit the woman's relatives in French Algeria. Unexpectedly, he was killed by the woman's cousin who was dissatisfied with their relationship. His body was thrown into the street. This triggered a conflict between the two tribes. The Haromir tribe of Tunisia crossed the border to attack tribes in French Algeria, and the tribes of French Algeria also crossed the border and fought back.

Faced with such a God-given opportunity, how could the French, who had no excuse, miss it. First, they encouraged the Haromir tribe in Tunisia to take revenge and provided guns and ammunition. Later, he turned to support the resistance of the French Algerian tribes, causing this transnational love murder case to gradually evolve from a tribal conflict into a local war.

After the situation escalated, France plausibly accused Tunisia of invading French Algerian territory and harming the interests of France and Algeria.

And before Tunisia could scratch its head and give a reply, the well-prepared French army immediately sent troops. The French army from Algeria appeared on Tunisian soil.

Their first prize was the border city of Telf. ​​This small border town with a population of more than 10,000 people naturally fell after being attacked by more than 20,000 French troops.

Hundreds of Tunisian troops in the city fled and scattered, leaving only a mess. The residents in the city were hiding in their rooms, watching the French troops through the cracks in the door with a disturbed expression. Their only hope now was that the French would not cause too much trouble to the city.

There is no cover-up at all about what the French army is doing in Algeria. For these hungry French people, many families are dressing up their children in various ways to make them look ugly.

But their worries were in vain. The French commander who led the team had no intention of staying to "relax". Instead, after leaving a battalion to maintain public security and wait for the follow-up troops, he continued to march non-stop, even if he took a break to catch his breath. No.

Because the commander of this combat mission, General Pelissier, had already stated that this combat mission would be fast. Every day needs to be planned. How many kilometers to march and where to hit are all clearly specified in the combat plan. Of course, the French commander who served as the vanguard did not dare to neglect the task in any way, and he kept urging the troops to move forward.

Of course, this was not the only French army that the residents of Telf saw today. A few hours later, most of the mighty French army appeared in front of them. Mighty cavalry, rifle-carrying riflemen lined up neatly, and countless cannons in the back half of the team were being driven forward by several horses. Beyond the cannons, the logistics carriages covered with canvas were equally huge. Incomparable. The dust it raises blocks the sky and makes even well-informed local residents feel uneasy.

General Pelissier, who was in charge of commanding this military operation in the team, was very satisfied. In his opinion, this military operation was completely like a march.

The Kingdom of Tunisia has a few pounds, but he doesn't take it seriously after living in Algeria for many years.

Although the Tunisian ruler Mohammed Sadiq III began to imitate the Westernization practices of the Egyptian Khedive (Ottoman Turkish, meaning governor) Mohammed Ali and implemented a series of reforms twenty years ago, Focus on developing the economy, improving education levels, improving infrastructure and communication facilities, purchasing new weapons for the army and navy, and adopting Western-style training methods.

However, Tunisia's economic situation and political system have hindered the implementation of reforms: the weak economy is unable to provide the funds needed to implement reforms; the old tax system allows only one-fifth of the taxes collected to enter the national treasury, and the rest is subsidized by local governments. Officials are lining their pockets, and the Tunisian central government lacks authority and execution to ensure that reforms are implemented at the lowest level.

The only result was that his guard was well equipped and well-trained, but it was a pity that it was too small. With only 3,000 men, there was no way it could be a match for the elite French army.

To put it bluntly, in the wild, General Pelissier only needed 1,500 men to defeat the opponent.

Not to mention that he now has more than 30,000 troops in his hands. Of course, he knows that his troops may not only compete with the Tunisians, but also their good neighbors, the Italians.

He was also undaunted by the possible threat from the Italians. The combat effectiveness of these Italians, who relied on French help to unify, was worrisome. Previous battles with the Austrians have proven that putting your hopes on them will make you vomit blood.

Of course, there are Italians who are not so incompetent, and that is Garibaldi's red shirts. But how old is this old guy? I wonder if he can still recognize the symbols on the battle map?

General Pelissier was full of confidence in this military operation.

When General Pelissier led the French army towards the city of Tunis, a large number of warships and a number of transport ships were also sailing on the outer sea. The crowd stood tall on the transport ship, all dressed in French military attire. Yes, these were the French Marines. In order to cooperate with the army's actions, the navy also sent out 8,000 marines this time, and their target It's Binzet outside Tunisia.

Faced with the French invasion, the Tunisian government did not know about it at first. They only got the news the next day. This news was brought by a British merchant ship. This news made the Tunisian government panic, and the ministers were even more confused. All ideas

Some people suggested that the French should apologize to the French and ask them to stop military operations in Tunisia.

Others suggested that Britain and Italy be invited to mediate their conflicts with France.

In addition, some people think that just retreating like this is not enough. It is best to let France see Tunisia's determination to defend its homeland and summon troops and tribes from all over the country to resist the French invasion.

The various suggestions from these people gave Muhammad Sadiq III, who was in power, a headache. However, now that the French invasion is just around the corner, he must make a decision as soon as possible, whether it is war, peace or whatever, it needs to be done as soon as possible. Think of ways to.

Although Sadiq III was not a wise man, he had held power for more than 20 years, and he immediately thought of an idea.

"First we need to contact the French to see what is going on. In addition, we need to contact the British and Italians, ask them to mediate, and summon the army to send troops to the tribes and let them come to Tunisia. We need to strengthen ourselves Strength makes the French take advantage of it.”

It has to be said that Sadiq has not been messing around in vain for more than 20 years, and he immediately came up with several ways to prepare. However, he underestimated the determination of the French this time. Just as the ministers were walking out with their orders, an attendant suddenly rushed in.

"The French fleet has appeared at Binzet. The enemy is currently shelling the defenders and is almost unable to withstand them."

This news immediately exploded, and many people did not expect that the French would arrive so quickly.

The news was actually too late. The garrison stationed in Binzet dispersed after the enemy fleet appeared. At least they still knew to notify the Tunisian government.

Binzet was now full of landed French troops, apart from the damage caused by the bombardment.

"Contact the UK and Italy immediately and ask them to mediate."

Sadiq III, who received the news at this time, felt that the situation was not good and requested mediation first.

With Sadiq III's order, Italy finally learned the news of the accident in Tunisia.

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